Football focus | Sky's the limit for Benet QB Beneventi

Few high school sophomores would consider this good news, but even fewer successful quarterbacks are 6-foot-9.

Six-foot-6 has fit perfectly at the forefront of No. 15 Benet's rise.

One season after going 1-8 and scoring a total of 43 points, Benet is 7-1 and can win the East Suburban Catholic Conference for the first time with a victory at Joliet Catholic (5-3) on Friday night.

Credit for such a turnaround spreads throughout the roster and coaching staff, but nobody has made a bigger difference than the sophomore quarterback.

Benet remained under the radar for much of the season, but the spotlight is on Beneventi and the Redwings now that they defeated 2011 co-champions Nazareth 49-0 and Marist 34-24 the last two weeks.

In those games, Beneventi went a combined 27-for-37 for 439 yards and six touchdowns. He's 82-for-140 with 1,280 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions this season.

"He is really mature, much more so than his age," Benet coach Pat New said. "He doesn't get frazzled. Against Nazareth, I was concerned they would bring pressure. Probably his best quality is his poise in the pocket. He stays in there until the last second."

"He reminds me of an old-school football player, and I mean that as a huge compliment," Nazareth coach Tim Racki said. "He doesn't over-celebrate something he shouldn't. He just makes the plays within the system."

New started feeling good about his team during the winter.

Dedicated workers, character kids, good athletes. But the memory of 1-8 was too fresh for him to trust what he was seeing.

"I kept telling myself that all coaches fall in love with their team in the winter," New said. "You forget how good the competition is. I was aware of that trap, but at the same time I'm looking at every position and thinking, 'We're good at every position.'"

One of the only positions not settled was quarterback.

Beneventi was coming off a very good season on the sophomore team, but there were four other quarterbacks New said were capable of handling the job.

That's a delicate, awkward situation for an incoming sophomore to find himself in, but it's also one in which he can win people over.

"People said he was the real deal, but I wanted to see what this kid could do," senior defensive lineman Charles Melka said. "He came in kind of timid. You can't come in as a sophomore thinking you're going to run the place. Nobody will like you and the camaraderie won't build around you.

"He came in with the right attitude, he has a good offense around him and it's just been clicking all season."

Beneventi is as cool with tape recorder on as he is in the pocket. In one 45-second stretch, he credited the team's seniors, defense, offensive line, receivers and running backs for his and Benet's success.

He also knows just what to say when the subject turns to the interest he is beginning to receive from colleges.

"Right now I'm just focused on the season," Beneventi said. "Right now it's JCA (Joliet Catholic). We need to beat JCA."